Something that I’ve found very admirable about American Housewife is that even though the writers see the humor in Anna-Kat’s condition, they never undermine it or try to simply pass it off as a weird quirk. As Katie’s blow-up at her mother shows, Anna-Kat’s special needs are a subject Greg and Katie take very seriously. As Katie mentions as far back as the pilot, the whole point of moving to Westport was the special education program at Anna-Kat’s school, so it particularly stings when the school fires Dr. Ellie, Anna-Kat’s fantastic teacher, in order to pay for lights in the parking lot. It will take a vote by the PTA board to rehire her.
We’ve already met Dr. Ellie in the previous episode, where Katie uses her as her own personal therapist. Anna-Kat definitely needs Dr. Ellie, especially during her current Baby Jessica phase, where she becomes extremely worried about falling down a well. It’s at least a little less dark than her Titanic or Hindenburg obsessions, but still worrying.
After Katie gives a Clueless-esque tour of the school’s parent cliques, all converge on a PTA meeting. Doris elects Greg as the new member of the PTA and silences any naysayers. If you think that newfound power won’t go to Katie’s head, you haven’t been watching the same show I have.
Greg and Katie divide and conquer to get the votes from the board needed to save Dr. Ellie. Greg takes Jenn, the needy, flirty arts mom. He thinks she’s so desperate, her vote is a sure thing, but she plays him instead. Katie takes Bruce, the jock dad with a hatred for Duke University. Katie can only stomach it for so much before flipping a table at a sports bar and defending her alma mater.
Greg being a pushover and Katie being pushy leads to a major fight between the couple. It takes Doris and a breakfast analogy about eggs and hot sauce for Katie decide to put aside the fight and actually fight for Anna-Kat. They can’t get Jenn’s or Greg’s votes, but do manage to win over Kyoko, another PTA board member with an unspecified hatred for vending machines. To get the majority they need, it’s down to Crossing-Guard Sandy.
As shown in the previous episode featuring Crossing-Guard Sandy, she and Katie absolutely loathe each other. Katie maybe even tried to broadside the feisty crossing guard with her car (Katie denies this, claiming that if she had wanted to actually hit Sandy, she would have hit her). Katie and Greg get nowhere on their own, but take Doris’s advice and team up to get her vote. They clinch it by vowing to never come to a PTA meeting ever again and Crossing-Guard Sandy refuses to pass up the chance for some Katie-free time. The vote passes and Greg and Katie strut out of the meeting, never to return.
A question I had during tonight’s episode was how old is Taylor supposed to be? Has she really never been left to watch her brother and sister before? No wonder Katie is so tired if she can’t even leave her kids alone with a responsible teen. Taylor manages to spend one night responsibly playing with Anna-Kat before messing up. She and Oliver want to watch a movie about a killer coat, but accidentally show it to Anna-Kat. Now Anna-Kat is afraid of coats, wells, and mannequins without clothes (I’m with Anna-Kat on that one).
Taylor and Oliver get scared out of their minds too when they actually finish the movie. The show ends with the entire family doing Anna-Kat’s special finger exercises to deal with the stresses of their lives. With Dr. Ellie’s job secured, at least there’s one less thing they have to worry about.
What did you think of this episode? Let me know in the comments!
